1. Field of the Invention
This invention is generally related to caps, covers or seals for protecting dispensing valves or quick disconnect plugs and particularly to safety caps which are used as protective seals to cover such valves or plugs on beverage dispensing tanks and which caps can only be removed therefrom by destruction of such caps. Therefore, any attempt to obtain access to, or tamper with, a valve plug or contents of a container by removal of the cap will result in at least a partial destruction of the cap thereby providing a positive indication of tampering.
2. History of the Prior Art
In the distribution of various containerized products, it is important to insure that the product has not been tampered with prior to the time it reaches the ultimate consumer or user. Numerous types of protective caps and seals have been designed to cooperatively close a variety of containers and/or concurrently provide the consumer with a visible sign or indication that the product within the container has not been tampered with. Generally, such caps are referred to as destructible closure seals.
It is not only necessary to provide tamper indicating seals for product containers to insure that the consumer receives the proper quantity of product for which value has been paid but, more importantly, for health and safety considerations. Specifically, it is important that purchasers or ultimate consumers have positive assurances that the contents of containers have not been tampered with by anyone and that the contents of such containers remain in the same condition as when originally packaged.
The foregoing considerations extend to consumers using a wide variety of product receptacles including bottles, jars, canisters, aerosol dispensers, bulk dispensing cans and kegs and the like. Therefore, tamper indicating seals and closures must be designed to meet a variety of specific requirements for each situation.
Some examples of destructible seals and closures include: U.S. Pat. No. 2,643,015 to Soffer which discloses a completely covering cap with a tear strip and cover engaging teeth; U.S. Pat. No. 2,760,670 to Parish, Jr. directed to a destructible closure for wide mouth containers such as bottles and jars; U.S. Pat. No. 3,102,658 to Rosen disclosing a cap with a tear strip having internal grooves along the borders; U.S. Pat. No. 3,162,329 to Gregory which discloses a cap in which the skirt portion is held by a series of peripheral portions 26 which are broken for separation of the skirt portion; U.S. Pat. No. 3,474,930 to Lerner directed to tamper-proof lids for aerosol containers; U.S. Pat. No. 3,592,351 to Johnson, Jr. which shows a closure for the plug holes in pressurized bulk dispensing containers such as beer kegs; U.S. Pat. No. 3,684,124 to Song which discloses a cover having a tear strip with a tab and a series of internal dents for engaging beneath the rim of the can; U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,713 to Norton which discloses a tamper resistant cap for covering quick disconnect coupling plugs for containers of liquids and particularly soft drink syrups; U.S. Pat. No. 4,165,018 to Giggard disclosing a series of internal dents beneath the top of a cap for engaging the rolled over edge of a can cap; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,276,988 to Kimm et al which discloses a tamper-proof cap for containers having screw threaded spouts.
The foregoing prior art patent to Norton was designed to serve as a tamper indicating cap for use in the same environment or for use on the same type of containers as the cap seal of the present invention. In the distribution of bulk soft drink syrup containers, a protective cap such as that disclosed in Norton is used to provide a cover for the quick disconnect dispensing valve which is mounted to the upper end wall of the syrup container. As the valves of such containers extend outwardly with respect to the container, the caps must be designed to extend from the upper or outer portions thereof to a point adjacent the container end wall.
Problems are present with regard to use of caps of the Norton type. First, such caps do not provide maximum protection against dust and dirt contamination of the container valve as there are openings in such caps adjacent the valve seal which are formed in the upper portion of the valve body. Also, such caps are formed of a brittle plastic material which may break into separate pieces when being removed. The splintering of the cap creates a safety hazard by causing a risk of eye injury. Further, such caps are relatively complicated to mold thereby unnecessarily increasing manufacturing costs.